Starting with sunrise on Good Friday set the pace. Unlike Easter sunrise services, on Good Friday, there aren’t many people on the beach. We had a small group – about twenty in all on a very large beach. The gathering had a feeling of solitude to it and that is very appropriate – because on the first Good Friday, Christ was isolated. If the disciples did gather that day, they were few in number and confused. We are less confused and much more grateful. The gathering allowed us to help one another remember all that Jesus has done and continues to do for us. His mercies are new every morning.

And it was a beautiful morning.

Easter weekend is a holiday for many. A number of our folks were scattered around the country, but we enjoyed another gathering on Easter Eve at Nichol’s barn. It has become a special place to us – a place of prayer, healing, fellowship and celebration. This time, it became a place of hope! Unlike the gathering at the beach, the barn felt wonderfully full. The weather was beautiful, comfortable with a gentle breeze. We thought about faith, hope, and love from 1 Corinthians 13, but we emphasized the greatness the hope. Hope is a shear gift of the resurrection!

Easter morning, many of us attended different services around town. My friend Marina shared this picture of sunrise at the beach. Countless worshipers up and down the beaches of the First Coast enjoyed it. I worshiped with two crowds – first at Sawgrass Chapel (which met at it’s usual time and place – early at the beach) and later at Mandarin Presbyterian Church. Hope, and again, hope!